Autobots, Assemble! One-Shot: Rescuers
by MiniKoontzy
Summary: The Avengers, plus their newest addition, pay a surprise visit to Griffin Rock in an effort to help Galvatron rebuild his reputation. When A.I.M targets the island's laboratory searching for technology to weaponize, the former Decepticon leader must work alongisde Heatwave's team of emergency responders to keep the island safe. *Separate universe/continuity; likely this will stay*
1. Chapter 1: AIMing to Misbehave

**Autobots, Assemble!**

**One-Shot: Rescuers**

Waves lapped against the sandy shores of Griffin Rock, a small but technologically advanced little island off the coast of Maine. At first glance it was pristine and peaceful. However, if one lived there, one knew it was anything but. Daily disasters occurred thanks to the many prototype inventions that littered the island.

These disasters were handled by the Burns family who acted as emergency responders along with their "government issued" vehicles. Only a few people in Griffin Rock aside from them knew they weren't government issued.

They were aliens.

OooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooo

"Wait. Who's coming to visit, Dad?" Graham asked abstractedly as he worked with Boulder on his engineering homework.

"I got a call this morning from the Autobot medic, Ratchet. Apparently, the Avengers were informed about us and they want to come and visit. They thought that Optimus's team was the only one stationed on Earth. When they heard about us, they got interested." Chief Burns explained.

Dani gave a happy little shriek of delight. "Oooh I can't wait! Those guys are amazing! I've always wanted a chance to fly one of their Quinjets! They're state of the art! And so stylish, too!"

He continued: "They're also bringing a friend with them. Rescue Bots, you might know of him due to his _involvement_ in your race's interstellar feud with each other, so I'm asking all of you right now to be on your best behavior. He's no longer an enemy and he's no longer dangerous."

He eyed both Blades and Heatwave sternly. "That goes for you two especially. Blades, no panicking. And Heatwave – no insults and no picking a fight with him. He's with the Avengers so if you try and instigate something they _will_ defend him."

"Fine." Heatwave sighed resignedly.

Blades gave a silent nod of acceptance. Already the helicopter mech was looking nervous. He was known for being extremely anxious and skittish in nature, as well as for over-reacting. Chief Burns could only hope Blades didn't react negatively to the Avengers' newest addition.

"When are they coming?" Cody asked. "Can Frankie and Doc Greene come and meet them, too? Frankie's always wanted to see a real-life superhero!"

"They should be arriving any minute now. And as for your second question – I don't see why not. Why don't you give them both a call and invite them over?"

Cody grinned and darted into the lift that led out of the fire house bunker.

"Chief, exactly who _is_ coming with the Avengers? I hazard that he is a Decepticon, though that is as far as your verbal evidence allows me to speculate with any definite accuracy." Chase wondered after he was positive Cody was out of hearing range. "Which Decepticon is he?"

Chief Burns gave his transforming police car partner a meaningful look, a look that spoke volumes to the alien law enforcement officer. In return, Chase's own puzzled glance evaporated like fog on a clear morning. It was quickly replaced by one of astonishment mingled with curiosity.

"Ah. I see."

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooo

Just above cloud level a white and red aircraft emblazoned with the Avengers insignia sliced through the skies. Alongside it flew a smaller black and grey form. Hulk kept an eye on the alien fighter jet to ensure they didn't leave him behind. Avengers looked out for their own.

[Why are we headed to this place again?] Galvatron asked curiously.

"Well, for two reasons really. We want to see these 'Rescue Bots' for ourselves – you know, see what they're like. Secondly, we're introducing you in order to help rebuild your reputation. It's always best to start out small." Ant-Man clarified.

Ms. Marvel added: "Yeah, and according to Ratchet these guys weren't really involved in the War to the extent that everyone else was. They're emergency responders, not warriors or soldiers. They'll be a little easier to convince than Autobots who were involved in the fighting."

The aircraft hummed comprehendingly. Idly he adjusted his velocity to perfectly match that of the Quinjet beside him. His onboard scanners registered a landmass in the vast expanse of water below. The Quinjet's scanners detected the same landmass.

Wasp steered the Quinjet down through the clouds and above the water's surface, skimming the aircraft mere feet above the ocean, causing a misty wake to trail behind it.

"Gently, Jan. Gently." Tony gripped his seat. He was regretting his decision to ever allow Jan access to a Quinjet.

Cap was already answering the hailing call that the island was sending them. They simply wanted to know whether the second aircraft they were detecting was with them, to which he replied that yes it was with them. There was no need to for alarm. It wasn't pursuing them – it was just following.

[Alright then. You're free to land at our air field. Or if you want there's a landing pad on top of the fire house you can use instead.] The hailer announced cheerily. [Welcome to Griffin Rock, Avengers!]

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooo

Dani and Blades waved the two aircraft down to land. Unfortunately, the fire house's landing pad was only big enough for the smaller black and grey jet to safely land on. But it turned out that the lawn in front of the fire house was big enough to fit the larger Quinjet.

The female pilot waited for someone to emerge from the black jet. When no one did, she was quick to guess that this was the Decepticon that her father had referenced. The fact that he'd refused to say who this mech was outright had been…weird.

"Uh…hello?" She hazarded. "You can change to robot mode whenever you want, you know. You don't have to sit like that all day."

The black and grey jet seemed relieved. Right in front of her eyes the vehicle changed into the second biggest mech she'd ever laid eyes on, easily standing a full head taller than Optimus. His body was covered in black and grey armor with muddy brown additions that plainly didn't belong on him – they looked almost like rocks or something. Red optics appraised her calmly.

It was then that Blades did the one thing that Chief Burns had explicitly told him _not_ to do:

He panicked.

The skittish helicopter mech gave a little shriek and hilariously tried to shelter behind his partner in vehicle form. His rotors trembled nervously.

Dani smacked a hand to her face in embarrassment before addressing the black and grey jet mech: "Sorry about him. He's a Rescue Bot, but he's a total, complete pansy. Freaks at the littlest things. It's like dealing with a kid some days."

"Hey!" Blades protested.

A faint, fleeting smile flickered across the mech's face. The girl didn't seem scared of him at all, thankfully – she seemed the strong-willed sort, not easily frightened, so it was rather funny that she was partnered with a mech practically scared of his own shadow. They contrasted like night and day.

"Come on, Blades. He's not gonna bite." Dani reassured her partner. "Dad told us he's not dangerous, remember?"

` The helicopter whimpered but dutifully switched out of vehicle mode. He knew exactly who this was and was scared senseless due to the mech's gruesome reputation during the War. But Dani had a point – he hadn't done anything to hurt or scare anyone so far. So…maybe it was safe to give Megatron the benefit of the doubt and at least _try_ to be friendly to him.

Besides, the poor mech was clearly feeling out of place here. And he _was_ rumored to be one of the best fliers on Cybertron…

OooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooo

Inside the fire house, the Avengers were given a warm greeting by both parties.

Chase had immediately become interested in Vision and tried to speak to him, but the android's shyness had kicked in and he had retreated underground in a blur of green and yellow, taking refuge in the tunnel that ran beneath the building.

"Shy little guy, isn't he?" Boulder commented with a smile.

Wasp giggled. "Shy yeah. But once you earn his trust it's kinda like dealing with a puppy. He looks a little creepy and intimidating at first glance, but he's a real sweetheart after he warms up to you. He gives the most amazing hugs."

"Aww. Want me to go find him? Those tunnels go for miles underneath the island and he might get lost."

"I doubt Vision getting lost will be an issue, Boulder." Chase said. "What we don't want to happen is for him to wander someplace he shouldn't. His phase shifting ability would allow him access to places no one else could reach."

The bulldozer nodded, transformed, and headed down into the bunker via the massive lift built into the floor.

At this particular moment, three figures burst into the fire house. One was Cody Burns. The other two dark-skinned newcomers – a dark haired middle aged man with flecks of grey beginning to show, and a young girl with frizzy pigtails – didn't ring any bells of recognition to the Avengers.

"Oh my gosh! You're actually here!" The girl gasped.

Hawkeye grinned. Fame was really nice sometimes.

"Hey! Where's that 'friend' of yours Dad mentioned? Did he chicken out and leave or something?" Kade asked.

In response, there was a loud _THUD_ just outside the fire house. A big black and grey Cybertronian stood framed in the fire house entryway. Blades hovered next to him, his previous nervousness all but vanished. Dani waved from his cockpit.

"Right there." Hulk grunted with a smug grin. Kade's eyes widened and he backed away towards his partner.

Heatwave himself growled and took up a defensive position in front of the Burns family, Frankie and her father, and his own team. As a Rescue Bot he didn't have anything considered a weapon, but in a pinch his fire hose could be used as such. Now Chief's reluctance to say the Decepticon's name aloud made sense.

The Avengers new "friend" was the most infamous Cybertronian alive – Megatron! Were they completely crazy? Megatron couldn't be trusted!

"Heatwave." Chief Burns warned. The Avengers were already forming a protective semi-circle in front of the black and grey mech. If Heatwave didn't stand down he might end up hurt.

"I'm not taking any chances with him!" The fire truck mech snapped stubbornly. "You don't know what he's capable of!"

The black and grey mech took a step back in the hopes of lowering Heatwave's bubbling aggression. Blades had been surprisingly easy to convince of his change – this mech was obviously going to take a little more work.

He cast a glance at Blades and Dani, a silent request for them to try and convince Heatwave of his new, benign character. Heatwave was plainly _not_ going to listen to him, so perhaps he _would_ listen to his own team mate.

Blades landed and let Dani out before reverting out of vehicle form. "Heatwave, it's okay! We just talked with him and he's totally different. If he were still a Decepticon, he would have tried to hurt someone by now. And he hasn't!"

"He's not 'Megatron' anymore, either. He goes by Galvatron now." Dani supplied.

Heatwave frowned. When it came to anything scary or intimidating, Blades was usually the first to run for the hills (usually accompanied by screams of terror), and no one was more scary or intimidating than the Decepticon leader. So if Blades was alright with him…

The fire truck mech sighed and lowered his hose and the protective semi-circle of heroes promptly disbanded back into their previous loose, relaxed grouping.

He watched tensely as Cody and Frankie approached Galvatron curiously, intrigue shining brightly in their eyes. They'd never seen a Decepticon before and especially not one who had renounced his old life as a killer and vowed to become a protector. Even Graham and Doc Green let their curiosity get the better of them and approached.

"Whoa…You're big!" Cody said.

Frankie laughed. "Cody, he's a Cybertronian. Of course he's big."

"Well his large size and aerodynamic build must mean he turns into some form of flying machine. Just not Earth-based, obviously." Doc Green noted as he examined Galvatron thoroughly. The rocky-looking additions to his armor plating puzzled him – Cybertronian armor was metallic, not carbon-based as these strange additions were.

Graham voiced his unspoken question. "Where did those come from?" He gestured vaguely at his shoulder and head, where the rocky armor additions were most plain.

Galvatron's gaze faltered and dropped.

"Let us put it this way: Those alterations to his armor are a…reminder of sorts of a mistake he made not too long ago." Thor said while glancing at the mech apologetically. "Iron Man tried to remove them but discovered they were melded to his original armor."

"Can't take 'em off." Tony summed up grimly. "I gave it my best shot but….Those alterations aren't going anywhere anytime soon." He shrugged.

Wasp lightly tapped Galvatron's shin with her foot. "Pst! Show 'em your holo-form!" She suggested. A less-than-subtle grin was plastered on her face.

"What's a holo-form?" Kade wondered. Heatwave had never mentioned anything about what they were, nor had any of the other Rescue Bots for that matter.

He jumped when the giant ex-Decepticon folded down into his vehicle mode. From around the other side of the aircraft stepped a human with black hair, black Kevlar body armor, red eyes, combat boots and a dark grey trench coat. There was a scar on his cheek and a strange device sat on his wrist.

"Cool!" Frankie cried. "I didn't know you guys could do that!"

T'Challa smiled. "Ah, but there's more to it. That wrist-mounted energy shield isn't the only thing he has." He turned and winked. "If you would, Galvatron."

The holo-form removed its trench coat. With a rustling of feathers the black wings were revealed in their full glory, the black and silver armor adorning the main wing arch glittering under the artificial lighting of the fire house.

"He's got wings!" Dani exclaimed in shock.

"Noble!" Cody gasped. "Can you use them?"

Galvatron seemed abashed at all the attention he was getting at once. All this shock and awe over a pair of wings? Were they that unusual? Nevertheless, the onlookers' enthusiasm eventually jumped to him whether he wanted it to or not.

"I've only had one lesson with Angel thus far, but…" He said.

He stretched his wings out and with a loud _whoosh_ was airborne, hovering a little unsteadily about ten feet off the floor. He dropped back down after the quick demonstration was done and neatly folded the wings behind his back once more.

Cody and Frankie smiled and clapped. Towards the back, Chief Burns nodded approval. Chase remained silent, content to simply observe the former Decepticon leader.

"Okay, maybe I was…wrong about you earlier." Heatwave admitted grudgingly as the holo-form flickered out and Galvatron switched out of vehicle mode.

The black and grey mech nodded understandingly. "Your mistrust was not unexpected, Heatwave. I have to learn the long, hard way that trust cannot be given – it must be earned. I cannot blame you for being wary of me."

Kade cracked a grin. "Well for an ex-'Con you're okay in my book. Anyone who can get 'Wave trigger-happy with his hose by just standing there….That's impressive."

"Hey, hey!" Blades piped up. "Is it true you used to be a gladiator in Kaon? And that you knew Optimus before the War broke out?"

Dani rolled her eyes at the second question. "Oh come on, that one _has_ to be just a rumor, Blades. There's no way that –!"

Galvatron shrugged. "No, both are true actually. If you wanted to make a name for yourself in Kaon you had to be either a warrior or a politician. I chose the former seeing as I had started as a miner and had no hope of reaching the latter right away. It was in part thanks to those fights that I saw the corruption in our society, but again there was nothing I could do on my own."

Graham smiled. "You needed help. So how _did_ you meet Optimus?"

Boulder silently returned from his search of the tunnels with Vision in tow, the android sticking close to the large green bulldozer. Both knew not to interrupt. Cody and Frankie drew closer to the giant mech, not wanting to miss a word.

"Orion, as he went by then, I happened to meet more by chance than design. He was an archivist in Iacon. I was there for a fight in one of their 'official' arenas.

He turned to face Iron Man. "His natural curiosity rivaled yours, and still does. That's what made him such a superb archivist. Always asking questions, especially about history and culture. He got the culture questions easily through Jazz, who was a cultural investigator."

Tony stared back, comprehension growing in his eyes. "Cultural investigator….No…He was a reporter! Ha!" He broke into laughter. "That explains his people skills. Well, now we totally need to introduce him to Parker."

"That would be the human equivalent, yes." Galvatron agreed. He glanced behind him with a hint of amusement. "But might I say you are _lousy_ at keeping hidden!"

A stifled curse was heard seemingly coming from nowhere. "Aw come on mech! Ya ruined the surprise!"

Kade yelped and hid behind Heatwave's legs. His eyes were round in fright. "H-Heatwave! The air's talking! Why's the air talking?"

The "air" beside Galvatron shimmered like a mirage to reveal a transparent blue, black and white mech with speakers on his legs, a blue band over his optics, and a guitar in his hands. His expression was that of someone annoyed yet entertained nonetheless.

Jazz approached Heatwave and knelt down to address his smaller partner.

"Boo." He grinned.

Kade's scream was probably heard halfway across the island.

Still screaming at the top of his lungs, Kade half-tripped, half-ran for the lift to the fire house's upper floors in a mad panic, all the while shrieking "Ghost! Robot ghost in the fire house!"

Jazz sniggered and playfully waved as the fireman vanished upstairs.

"You know what you are, Kade Burns? Big chicken that's whatcha are!" He teased, mimicking chicken noises and waving him arms like stubby chicken wings. It was a wonder he managed that – he was laughing to the point where optic fluid was trickling out from behind his blue optic band.

Everyone in the fire house broke out laughing. Kade's fear of the supernatural was well-known amongst the Rescue Bots and his family. Apparently the specter had known about it and played it for all it was worth.

Jazz turned his attention back to the one who had blown his cover. "How'd ya even know I was there?"

Galvatron smirked. "Invisible is not the same thing as inaudible, Jazz. I would have thought that as a saboteur you would be a little quieter. Isn't that how you avoided Soundwave aboard my ship?"

Jazz snickered and winked. "Nope. Ducts."

Before Galvatron could get even a startled word out, an alarm began blaring. The four different colored Autobot crests on the wall, each representing a Rescue Bot, were flashing with a sense of urgency. You didn't need to be a hero or an emergency responder to know that that sound almost always meant trouble.

Stark was the first jump into action, hacking every possible piece of surveillance equipment on or around the island with help from both Jarvis and Vision to find the source of the problem. It didn't take them very long.

"A.I.M soldiers in the lab?" He growled. "What could they possibly want?" The inventor turned an inquisitive eye to the island's head scientist. "Is there anything in there or on the computer server that could be weaponized or utilized as a weapon?"

"There is the weather machine, over two dozen tracers, a shrink ray. A few other things." Doc Green admitted. "Trex is still there, but I upgraded his firewalls so that no one could hack him again, or use him to hack the server."

The Avengers knew what the head scientist was talking about thanks to a detailed dossier on the island and its technology. At the very least the robotic T-Rex would keep A.I.M busy until they got there, which would only take a few minutes. That was the beauty of an island – everything was in easy reach.

Cap raised his shield. "Avengers, Assemble!"

"Rescue Bots, rolls to the rescue!" Heatwave proclaimed.

Their human partners tried to get into their respective vehicles, only to find that the doors wouldn't budge.

"Chase?" Chief Burns demanded.

"Apologies, Chief, but this mission is too dangerous for you and your family to assist on." The police car responded curtly. "A.I.M is not a group to be trifled with. Their technology is dangerous and unstable. I have no desire to see you or any member of your family injured."

There was no arguing with Chase when he used that tone. The Burns' backed away from their partners dutifully.

"Cody. Command center." Chief Burns ordered. "Help them any way you can."

The boy nodded. "On it, Dad!" He ran back to the lift with Frankie and Doc Green at his heels.

With a rumble of engines the four emergency vehicles, a black and grey aircraft, and their new temporary human partners exited the fire house. Only Jazz remained behind, knowing his presence would cause too many raised eyebrows, especially with Griffin Rock's notoriously nosey reporter, Huxley Prescott.

OooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooo

Griffin Rock Laboratory was situated on the slopes of Mount Griffin, halfway built into the rocks to protect it from harsh storms. But it hadn't been built to withstand a full-blown assault from A.I.M. Its glass windows were cracked and smoke billowed out. A.I.M ships hovered above the lab, and down below in the houses near the base of the mountain civilians were in panic.

"Carol, Thor, Galvatron – chase those A.I.M ships as far away from civilians as you can." Cap requested over the Avengers frequency. "We don't want them getting caught in the crossfire. Ant-Man, Panther, Vision, scout ahead with Chase. We need to know precisely what they're here for."

[Consider it done.] Thor replied. He and his two flying comrades each chose one of the three A.I.M dropships.

[Of course.] Panther answered. He, Ant-Man, and Chase snuck their way to a side entrance on the east side of the lab and vanished inside while Vision sank below ground to check the sublevel vaults for A.I.M soldiers.

"Everyone else – inside. Let's kick these A.I.M soldiers out before they can do any more damage to the place."

[Many of the items in there are sensitive in nature.] Doc Green interspersed. [Try to avoid collateral damage if you can, Avengers.]

[We'll be careful, Doc. Don't worry.] Iron Man reassured him. He smirked when Galvatron went nose-to-nose with his assigned A.I.M dropship in an effort to intimidate the pilot into fleeing. He had no weapons in his altered vehicle form so he was relying on its scary appearance alone.

It was surprisingly effective. He could almost hear the pilot shriek as he turned the ship around and fled back over the ocean in the direction he'd come from.

[Nice going, big guy.] Wasp complimented. [But it's not gonna be that easy all the time.]

The black and grey aircraft gave the equivalent of a "well duh" snort. Intimidation only took one so far in a battle. He'd gotten lucky with that pilot – many humans were far braver.

He turned his attention over to the ship that Thor was dealing with. The lightning-summoning Asgardian was getting pummeled by a constant barrage of energy shots from the ship. Ms. Marvel's ship shot past it as it fled, smoking holes in its sides betraying her powerful photon blasts. The energy-manipulator grinned and "kicked back" in the air.

Galvatron was confused at this. "Aren't you going to help Thor?"

She snorted. "Please. He's just letting them hit him to create a false sense of security. Those shots aren't even hurting him. He's simply biding his time for a good enough opening."

Just then the ship's guns apparently ran out of whatever ammo they ran on or shorted out – honestly who could say? – leaving the Asgardian free to strike back unhindered. One lightning bolt later and the third and last A.I.M dropship limped off into the distance.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooo

Inside the lab was a different story. A.I.M soldiers had holed up in strategic points throughout the extent of the building. Chase's scout group was pinned by an unmanned gun turret erected by four A.I.M goons when they'd discovered the Avengers' involvement.

He activated his comm. link. "Boulder? We are in need of assistance! What is your current position and heading?"

In reply, the stone and metal wall behind them buckled as Boulder slammed it with his bladed scoop. Hulk and Heatwave stood beside him, both looking a little over eager for a brawl.

Two of the A.I.M soldiers near the turret made a rush for it to upgrade its firepower upon realizing they were outnumbered. Heatwave raised his hose and unleashed a torrent of high pressure water that knocked them away from the turret and shorted the device out in the process.

Hulk took his cue and leapt for the malfunctioning turret, raising both fists and slamming them down on the device, crushing it in an instant. The four A.I.M soldiers understood the game was up and fled further into the recesses of the lab where they could regroup with others.

"Oh no you don't!" Hulk bellowed. The green gamma creature leapt again and brought his fists down onto the floor, causing it to rupture from the force and upheave, tossing the fleeing soldiers off their feet and into the air. They fell with soft thuds onto the hard ground, knocked unconscious.

"First rule with A.I.M, Rescue Bots: Never let them regroup. They're a bigger pain in groups than on their own." Iron Man said.

Chase nodded and forged ahead with his scout party.

[Boulder, is there any way you can use your sonar to map out A.I.M's positions in the lab?] Graham demanded over his comm. link. [That way they'll know where the biggest fortifications are – wherever those are might help us find out what they're after.]

"Like the way I located Chief and Chase in the lead mine?" Boulder asked. "Great idea, Graham!"

He lifted his bladed scoop and slammed it down onto the floor, activating his powerful seismic imaging system and waiting for the reverberations to come back and give him a reading. When the first came back rather fuzzy he performed the action once more, receiving a much cleaner image.

"Well?" Blades pressed.

"They're holed up in the Best Left Forgotten section of the vaults! That's where the shrink ray was stored! Doc's shrink ray is what A.I.M is here for!"

Blades whimpered. He remembered the shrink ray and dreaded what A.I.M intended to do with it. But to stop them meant going down there and possibly facing the Scientist Supreme of A.I.M or maybe even MODOK….

"Then let's get down there!" Heatwave growled impatiently. He activated his comm. link and contacted the fliers stationed outside. "Guys, A.I.M is after Doc Green's shrink ray in the Best Left Forgotten section of the vaults."

[We're on our way.] Galvatron said.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooo

"Where is it? Where?" The Scientist Supreme snarled. His underlings were busy ransacking the place in search of the shrink ray they were there for. So far they had not found it, though they had found many other things that might be of use – the little tracer machines might be handy if they were reprogrammed, but the weather machine was primitive compared to their own pilfered technology; too prone to malfunction.

"Hurry! Before the –"

"Hey! Supreme Bee Keeper!" A snarky voice taunted. "Can't hit what you can't see!"

An arrow zipped past and impaled the floor near to his feet, the head breaking open and releasing a cloud of billowing, blinding smoke. The soldier nearest the Scientist Supreme let out a frightened shriek as he was pulled into the smoke by a shadowy figure, while another cried out in pain as something round and disc-like whacked him in the back of the head.

With a growl of mingled irritation and anxiety the Scientist Supreme whipped out an EMP gun, pointing it randomly into the smoke cloud and firing repeatedly in the hopes of hitting something. Bigger targets were easier to hit, and he knew about the strange transforming rescue vehicles.

The smoke cleared just enough for him to make out one of those "Transformers" as the public in New York had taken to calling them. It was the helicopter mech. He aimed, fired off the EMP gun, and the helicopter yelped and fell with a crash.

"Blades!" Wasp cried. He wasn't offline – just unconscious from the system crash. "Galvatron! Get him out of here!"

In a flash the big mech had slung the unconscious flier over his shoulder and stormed out of the lab.

Heatwave had flown into a rage. His friend had been hurt and this crook was going to pay for that. He had more than enough water in his reserve tanks and was releasing all of it at the Scientist Supreme, forcing the twisted human onto the ground in a flurry of choked coughs.

"Heatwave. That is enough." Chase said upon returning. In his hands he held the shrink ray that A.I.M had come there for.

The fire truck mech didn't look happy about it, but he let the man get back to his feet and hack some of the water out of his lungs. He hadn't meant to hurt him anyway – just put the fear in him. And to give the man good reason to leave, he growled threateningly at him.

But A.I.M's Scientist Supreme was not about to go down without a fight. He knew these particular Transformers weren't armed with weapons, and the EMP gun had been very effective on the flier. The only bad thing was it would take time for the gun to recharge. He would need to resort to other means.

He holstered the EMP gun and brought out what looked like a freaky grenade, tossing it into the clustering of heroes and machines. There was a bang and a bright flash. When the glare died down his opponents were all blinking blindly.

They all cried out iterations of "I can't see!" as they desperately called out to each other to determine their positions in the room.

"Everyone! Calm down!" Cap barked. "That was a flash grenade. Until it wears off _use your other senses_. Remember what Galvatron said earlier to Jazz? Invisible is not the same as inaudible! Use your ears, not your eyes!"

[Cap's right! You can do it, guys!] Cody reassured eagerly.

T'Challa nodded and angled his head this way and that. His enhanced senses would allow for greater accuracy along with Vision and the Rescue Bots. They would be the ones to determine targets.

Chase and Boulder were the first to succeed. Both folded down into vehicle form and drove right for their target, forcibly backing him into a corner where he would be easier for the others to find. Heatwave completed the vehicular barricade, leaving the man with no place to go.

"Ant-Man! Over here!"

The size-changer stalked his way over to the three vehicles. They moved slightly to let him in. He heard the Scientist Supreme unholster the EMP gun and knocked it neatly out of his hand, the gun clattering to the floor. Just to be sure, he kicked it across to the other end of the room where it slid under the shelves.

"If I'm right, you're out of tricks." Iron Man guessed smugly.

A.I.M's Scientist Supreme snarled angrily. "I told MODOK that coming here was a mistake! I told him!"

"Chase, you got any cuffs in there?" Hawkeye asked. "The flash grenade's effects are wearing off. I'm starting to get my sight back."

"In here." Chase replied, clicking his trunk open and letting the archer take them. "You will need quite a few of them. There are many more A.I.M soldiers scattered around the lab."

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooo

Transporting the unconscious Blades back to the fire house had been the easy bit. Now Galvatron had to deal with a worriedly irate Dani Burns who was currently giving him an audial-full while she waited for her friend to awaken.

"Simmer down lil' lady. He got Blades back here as fast as he could, and he's not hurt." Jazz attempted to calm the pilot down. "He'll come to. Don't ya worry."

At that moment Dani saw the rather hurt expression on the giant black and grey Cybertronian. She felt guilty now. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be taking this out on you – you helped. You brought him here. I just…I don't want anything to happen to him."

Her guilt vanished when Galvatron smiled faintly. "For someone who would run at the sight of his own shadow in a dark hall, Blades was very brave to join the rest of us in the vaults. He was hesitant – afraid – to and yet he followed us anyway."

He turned and started off to bunker lift. Blades was being kept below where most of the team's medical equipment was, and the remaining members of Dani's family were keeping a close eye on him. "I will see if I can wake him for you."

She smiled and nodded. "I'll come with you."

She jogged after him and joined him on the lift just as it started to lower down. He could detect trace amounts of fear pheromones coming from her, but they were scarcely noticeable. She wasn't afraid – merely anxious.

The lift jolted to a stop and let them both off. Cody and Frankie were up on the only occupied medical berth where Blades was lying. Doc Green was below them on the floor running over the data from a full system diagnostic to ensure that Blades was indeed uninjured. A.I.M was known for packing hidden surprises in many of their weapons and gadgets, often in the form of viruses.

He put Dani up on the medical berth so she could be nearer her friend. Just her presence there seemed to ease the mild tension in the room.

"Blades?" She asked quietly. "Blades, can you hear me?"

A low groan came from the mech as he sat up. "What did that bee keeper _hit_ me with? I feel all woozy."

"You were hit with an electro-magnetic pulse. It luckily didn't fry any of your internal circuitry, but it clearly affected your equilibrium sensors – which is why you feel woozy. Don't move around too much until Iron Man gets back." Doc Green advised. "His knowledge of Cybertronian inner workings far surpasses my own."

"Aw. Thanks, Doc." A voice said from behind. "I'll have Blades up and about in no time."

The armored inventor flew over to the medical berth and set to work on the dizzy mech. Behind him were the remaining Avengers and Rescue Bots, all unharmed. Chase had the shrink ray in his hands which he handed to Doc Green.

Frankie turned her attention to the Avengers. "Trex wasn't hurt was, he?"

"Your robotic watchdog is fine." Thor said. "He is busy checking the lab for any 'gifts' that A.I.M may have left behind. Vision is waiting for the report."

The dark-skinned girl gave a relieved sigh. Trex was like a giant pet dog to her. She couldn't bear to lose him.

"There. All fixed!" Iron Man declared. "Feel any better?"

Blades grinned. "Better than ever! What'd you do?"

"Your equilibrium sensors were a little misaligned to begin with. I just re-aligned them and patched up the minor damage that EMP did to them. Now you shouldn't feel dizzy while flying. That may help with your 'fear of heights' thing you have. Better to be comfortable doing something you aren't used to."

Blades stared at him. "Wow. You're good!"

"No kidding. Even I didn't notice that misalignment!" Dani said. "And I do weekly maintenance on him!"

"Well the misalignment was so minor that I don't think even he noticed it. He probably thought it was his own fear making him suffer from mild vertigo in flight. You have to be around 'Bots for a long time to notice little things like that."

Hawkeye snorted. "What he means is that he learned directly from Knockout and Ratchet. Red's got a little more experience with fliers than the Mr. Grumpy Grills does."

Chief Burns brought the subject back to the shrink ray. "Back to the point. What do we do with the shrink ray? If we keep it here A.I.M might just come back for it at a later date."

"I'll send to specs to Doc for a special holding unit for it once we get back to the Mansion. Keeping that thing out in the open – even in a sealed vault – is too risky. A.I.M is really good at breaking and entering."

"And the A.I.M soldiers?"

T'Challa took over: "We have contacted S.H.I.E.L.D and they are en route to retrieve them. ETA was estimated at around one hour. They have all been disarmed and restrained, and Trex is guarding them. You should have no trouble with them."

"Then I think it's time to get going." Cap said. "We don't want to attract unwanted attention."

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooo

"You guys better come back to visit again soon!" Cody called out. "Frankie demands it!"

"And you better give me a chance to fly that Quinjet!" Dani hollered. "It's on my bucket list!"

Ms. Marvel waved through the windshield from the pilot's chair in the slowly rising Quinjet. Galvatron elevated off the fire house pad and joined the other vehicle. He couldn't wave like this, but he flashed his glowing purple lateral lines at the tiny group below.

Two engines roared fully to life and their owners flew into the distance.

"You did good." Jazz commented.

"See? That wasn't so bad was it, big guy?" Wasp said over her ID card. "Heck, I think they like you."

There was silence for a moment on the other end. [They…do?] He sounded surprised. They had been friendly to him, that much he had picked up on, but _like_ him? Heatwave's reaction had been almost reassuring as opposed to everyone else's acceptance.

[Yeah!] An all-too-familiar spunky female voice said over the comm. frequency. [They totally like you! Jazz knows what he's talking about!]

"Miko, get off this frequency." He growled. "And Jazz, Stark changes the access codes for a reason. Quit handing them out like treats."


	2. Chapter 2: Earth-Shaking

**Autobots, Assemble!**

**One-Shot: Earth-Shaking**

_*Note: This is a bit of a tribute to that 6.2 earthquake that happened in central Italy recently. I decided to involve the Rescue Bots for this one, with their added members Blurr and Salvage. I like to think with the added Cybertronian tech they might not be confined completely to Griffin Rock. They do have a groundbridge and a teleporting truck thing._

_*To everyone there, alive and dead, I just have to say this: You people did not deserve what happened. Your lives were altered or ended in ways no one should ever have to endure. As a Texan I've never had to deal with quakes. I can't imagine what that must have been like, and the news footage doesn't properly display the scope of the damage in my opinion. So _–_ maybe you didn't get a very happy ending in real life but perhaps I can write you a better ending to this catastrophe. I'm an idealist. I despise utterly horrid endings._

_Tutto il mio amore._

_(I do apologize if my Italian grammatical structure or word choice is a bit off. I'm an American who only knows a bit of French and Spanish. So my apologies. I tried to find good language sites and not rely on Google translate too heavily.)_

_No real timeline here but it takes place after the whole issue with mutants has been legally resolved _–_ chapter I have no written yet. These are glimpses of rescue efforts since writing out every single one would result in this being an entire book. That, and I wasn't there so there' no real way for me to accurately describe the devastation or actual rescue efforts._

* * *

GRIFFIN ROCK, MAINE  
THE FIREHOUSE KITCHEN  
AUGUST 23, 2016  
TIME: 4:25 P.M.

Chief Charlie Burns was busy getting supper ready after a busy day, moving around the kitchen. A check of a pot or pan here, a stir or waggle of another there. A busy day meant an early dinner for his family. His daughter Dani was with him and lent an extra hand to the other man. Graham was busy with another online class from Grimskee Tech in his room. Kade was in the living room channel surfing with Cody. As far as he knew their extraterrestrial partners were all down below in the bunker hopefully busy setting one of their new members straight. He didn't mind having more rescuers on the roster. An expanded roster meant they could spread out more to solve the island's many troubles as they arose. Salvage was proving to be a distinct asset, the hefty mech possessing a talent in creating useful devices from what others would term "junk." But his friend Blurr was proving he was both a handful and a bit of a trouble-maker. Heatwave and Chase in particular were not inclined in his favor, considering his impulsive, reckless behavior un-suiting of rescue work.

The man shook his head a little recalling the fiascoes that had already happened with him. He'd tried to leave the planet in the Sigma for one, having grown fed up with the rules and Heatwave and Chase's general leeriness of him. Unfortunately Cody had tried to follow him to convince him to stay and had wound up on the ship as well. Thankfully both had returned unharmed but that had cemented to the aliens (and a few of their human partners, too) that Blurr was simply too much trouble with not enough face value. He had been permitted to stay and earn back the trust and respect he had deeply infringed on but he was under constant supervision now. He would go through basic and advanced rescue training before being permitted into the field again, a procedure which was currently underway. Heatwave had made sure of that.

Recently he was occasionally being let on missions that required prompt response time. Out of all the grounders on the team he was by far the fastest. Blades and Dani kept a close watch on him from the skies during those times.

Still. Any argument could be made that he was not designed for rescue work, bearing the form of a racecar, and thus had no idea how to handle this sudden shift in activity. An alien racer of eighteen feet was not trained off the bat to know how to safely rescue small, delicate humans from a collapsed building for instance. And trust was not simply handed out because of a matching crest. It needed to be earned. Chief Burns had little doubt in his mind that with proper training and motivation he would be as valuable as anyone on the team. He just needed to curb that recklessness and desire for speed into something more productive.

Idly he glanced at the clock and noted the time down automatically: 4:38. Late afternoon and evening was an uncommon time for rescue work but it did happen. A few times it delayed dinner and Kade would slap together a sandwich to keep himself from getting crabby with Heatwave. His other children would do the same. It was a solution that worked.

He just had to hope Blurr wouldn't cause any more problems this evening, like drag racing on the streets and causing a collision. He'd already done that once a few days ago after getting bored of training and just "going out for a drive" so he'd said afterwards. Trying to explain _that_ _one _to the mayor and the collision victims had been a real hassle. The chewing out Blurr had gotten from everyone because of that crash had really been something. Kade had even recorded it. Chief Burns massaged his temples in remembrance. There had been a lot of angry shouting. The fact that _Chase _of all mechs, whose voice was almost constantly computeristic, had actually displayed inflections of genuine anger had surprised him. Not surprising in hindsight though. Chase was a real rule-stickler. Blurr drove him all sorts of crazy.

'_Blurr, for Pete's sake, don't cause any more trouble__..._'

"Veggies are done, Dad." Dani reported. "I'll go put them on the table."

Dani suited word to action and left. She returned moments later to continue helping. Things looked to be winding down for the day.

"Uh...Dad?" Cody called from the living room. "Get in here. Now."

"You need to see this." Kade added.

Chief Burns let himself be drawn from the kitchen. Something in the boys' voices wasn't quite right. Trouble was his first thought. Had something gone awry on the island once again?

What he saw on the television left him speechless.

The news channel was an international one to start with, not a local one. The quality of the video revealed it as being taken by someone on the ground without access to professional quality recording equipment – probably a cell phone. The caption towards the bottom identified the area reported on as Amatrice, Italy. The images on the display set his rescuer's instincts screaming. Buildings were in ruins, a handful falling apart as they watched. Civilians were in the streets, some injured and covered in dust, dirt. Some were smeared with blood. All were shouting in Italian, most likely names of loved ones. A painfully small number of firefighters and police were in the streets with them, the former beginning rescue efforts as helicopters circled overhead, the latter doing the same all while trying to keep some semblance of order. In short, it was close to chaos.

Dani came in then. "Hey, guys. What's going...?"

She too was left speechless. A hand flew to her mouth.

Her father's eyes hardened. His voice was stern when he said: "Dinner'll have to wait. People need our help."

"Dad, that's all the way across the ocean!" argued Kade in astonishment. "How are we supposed to get there in time?"

Chief burns gave him a look. Kade's and Cody's eyes widened.

"Oh no. I have _had it _with with those teleporter crystals! Last time we used one of those it went haywire and blinked us all over the island!"

"And that glitch has been fixed. We can use the MHQ to get there in moments, even use it as a mobile clinic to help anyone who's been injured. There is a small infirmary in it, and it can handle uneven terrain better than an ambulance. That'll help alleviate the influx of injured the emergency medical responders are going to be facing."

Kade groaned: "Can't we just ask High Tide to ferry us over?"

"That would take too long, Kade." Dani snapped. "High Tide's not a speed boat, you know. Those people need help _now_. Not in seven hours."

"Cody, go get Graham from his room. I'll get everyone prepped to leave. Time is everything. Dani, get some sandwiches and water bottles for everyone."

"On it, Dad." they chimed together.

The youngest of the Burns sprang up and flew up the stairs in a mad haste, shouting his brother's name while Dani darted back into the kitchen. Cody didn't even reach the door by the time Graham was out of it and rushing down the stairs with him. Both young men ran straight for the firehouse proper where their partners were waiting alongside the MHQ. Kade and their father were already suited up. Dani joined them after only a minute, tossing a sandwich in a plastic baggie and a bottle of water to each of her siblings and their father. The young woman wore a backpack that probably contained basic supplies for the victims. Good girl. Thinking ahead. The minute Graham saw the MHQ he rushed over and jumped in.

"Where to?" Graham demanded.

"Amatrice, Italy." said Chief Burns. "That's what the caption said. Looked like a quake hit the area. Big one."

"If it was anything higher than 6.0 on the Richter scale the quake could be felt hundreds of miles away." Graham explained as he set the GPS.

Boulder's optics widened: "That means cities within a hundred or so miles of Amatrice probably got affected, too. We-We don't have the numbers for that sort of large-scale rescue effort, Chief. We'd need an entire battalion!"

"Which is exactly why I'm calling in some help."

Removing his communicator from his shirt the man pressed a small button on the side that would switch the frequency to another private channel. Blurr and Salvage noticed the little light-emitting diode blinked from green to red in a flash. What did that mean? Who was Chief Burns calling in as support?

"Now let's get going. Help will meet us there. 'Bots, inside."

The aliens obeyed. The MHQ shimmered pale blue and vanished in the blink of an eye.

* * *

AMATRICE, ITALY

Seeing the devastation in person was even more horrendous than on the television. Even in the dark of night it was plain to see all the toppled structures and the people running and shouting. The helicopters, seven of them, circled above like great life-saving vultures, lights shinning down on the ruined streets to provide illumination to civilians and rescue workers alike. Their pale lights ghosted over the ruins of what had once been homes, businesses, and roads. Night rescues on Griffin Rock were always a bit eerie but this took the cake.

A few people had shouted in astonishment when the lumbering hi-tech off-road vehicle colored bright red had blinked into existence as if by magic. Close at hand an athletic looking, well-tanned construction worker was using an excavator to dig through the rubble of a home in search of survivors. The worker noticed the bright flash and the claw and cabin turned to investigate. Only those with sharp eyes would have noticed that he did not perform the action himself – his hands had not moved along with the controls. Indeed, he did not need to turn the cabin to look. He need only have turned his head. And only those within the cabin would have noticed the small, red face on the wheel.

People were even more astonished to see three individuals exit the massive tank of a vehicle, each in a vehicle. One was in a green bulldozer, the other in a bright red fire engine, the third in a blue and white police car. Two more exited but the windows were so tinted none could see if they possessed drivers as well - a flashy looking lavender racecar and bright blue and yellow dump truck. What took even more by surprise was that a humanoid machine colored pale orange and white walked out behind them. It bore tell-tale helicopter blades. As onlookers watched it folded down to reveal it was a helicopter – a small, compact one with a dome of see-through material that protected the young female pilot within. Somewhere on each machine was a red face of an insignia, stern but not unfriendly.

"_Guaio_?" whispered the worker to his excavator. He watched the newcomers warily as he took back the controls and resumed his work.

"_No. Il soccorso._" replied the excavator in a voice that was more of a low grumble. It recognized those crests with ease.

Autobots.

"No need for alarm!" called the old man in the police car. "We're here to help! We'll coordinate with rescue efforts! We've got more help coming but I don't know when they'll arrive! Ambulances will have a hard time reaching here on bad roads so any injured you have, bring them here. Our off-roader has a small infirmary and some basic supplies tucked inside."

And with a wave of his hand the vehicles and their pilots went to work, leaving the giant red off-roader as a mobile clinic for other rescuers to use. The racecar shot off to look for people who simply needed help getting through the rubble.

"Boulder, let's go help that guy over there with the excavator." Graham suggested. "He looks like he could use a hand."

"Definitely. Hang on. It'll be a bit of a bumpy ride."

The bulldozer trundled his way over slowly and joined the worker and his excavator. Graham introduced himself. In return the worker introduced himself as Lamberto, and in broken English he explained he was digging through his home in search of his family. He had been at work when the quake had hit apparently. Boulder was more interested in his excavator. On the surface it looked like any everyday piece of construction equipment but he could sense something from the other vehicle that shouldn't be there. It felt a lot like an electromagnetic field. Funny. Earth vehicles didn't usually have those. Only...

*_You're a Cybertronian?_* he asked over short-band. *_I'm Boulder. Who're you? I didn't realize there were others like us here. I thought our team and Optimus's team were the only ones._*

The excavator did not respond for a while. He helped the nameless stranger move a fallen wall and some rafters to one side. Then it offered a short grunt of its engine and said:

*_Name's Grumbler, kid. No team. Now quit yer yakkin' and start workin', capisce? There's lots o' people under all o' this rubble. Ain't no time for dis small talk._*

Boulder hastily apologized and resumed his work. He was so used to some basic small talk on rescues to help alleviate some of the nervous tension. But in this particular instance silence was beneficial. If humans were under the rubble shouting for help it would be easier to hear than if they were talking. Even if they were using short-band they might be distracted when using it and miss a vital sound. So he kept silent. And it paid off. After moving part of the collapsed roof he began to hear muffled cries in Italian.

"_Affrettarsi! _Hurry!" Lamberto cried. "_Constante! _Do not move anything too quickly! If they are injured we might worsen them!"

Very carefully the two living machines and their pilots removed part of the fallen roof of the home. Huddled there with her leg trapped under a beam, huddled over a young boy of about ten, was a striking woman with olive skin and jet black hair. When she looked up her eyes were the color of the ocean. There were scratches on her face that leaked red from the shards of roof tiles that had fallen on her as her home had collapsed all around her. Bruises were dotted all over her arms and legs. The boy appeared virtually unharmed thanks to his mother's efforts to shield him aside from a few minor cuts, bruises, and being covered in dust, dirt, and sweat. Their expressions were one of poignant relief.

"Hang on. We'll get you out there." Graham reassured. "Lamberto, let's get that beam of her. Gently."

The bulldozer and the excavator worked in tandem. Grumbler gently eased the bar into Boulder's scoop and it was safely lifted out of the debris and placed to the side. Graham winced on noting the bad angle the woman's right leg was in. If it wasn't broken it was probably very close. She needed medical attention. The bulldozer read his mind and lowered his scoop back down. The woman released her son and motioned for him to climb in. She herself dragged herself in. The scoop was lifted up. Lamberto abandoned Grumbler in a flash and went over to them. He took his wife in his arms and carried her back to his vehicle, the boy following.

"Head to the MHQ – the big red vehicle over there." Graham told them, motioning in case the woman and boy did not understand English very well. "We've got basic medical supplies and some water in there. Ambulances'll have trouble getting here with the roads out. Life-Flight helicopters will probably be here sooner."

Lamberto came over to them. "_Grazie, _young man." He was near on tears.

Graham smiled back a bit sheepishly, said it was no problem, and went on to the next rescue.

* * *

Blades had joined the other helicopters circling in the skies and added his own light to theirs. The scene was like something out a War story: a city almost completely leveled, countless people hurt, trapped, and in desperate need of help. He'd experienced an earthquake back on Griffin Rock but that had been more like a sound-quake, and it had been caused by sheer accident. This, below him? This had been a _real _earthquake, and a big one at that. Something that occurred naturally on this planet. Not even cyber-quakes back home were this bad. Maybe that was because the living planet had the courtesy to give its inhabitants some type of warning when it wanted to shift a plate half a klick to the east.

He decided right then and there for dead sure that he did _not _like earthquakes. Fault lines were evil monsters. Only a real monster left a place this devastated.

"Wait, wait! Blades!" exclaimed Dani suddenly, spooking him. "Put your light back where it was!"

"O-Okay."

He shakily re-oriented the light a few feet back over a pile of rubble. A group of policemen were busy sifting through it with some dogs. Some used their bare hands while others used their nightsticks as impromptu hammers to break some of the cement apart. One was actually armed with a sledge hammer, heaving it in powerful swings and shattering the debris. His uniform was different – a fireman. When the men broke through they found an entire group of people under the rubble, battered and bruised but very much alive. However they were in a bit of a hole formed by the rubble, what might have once been a church or a medieval tower. It was too steep and unstable for the men to climb or lower down to start hefting the civilians up to safety. They motioned up to the circling choppers ahead, shouting in Italian.

"Blades, lower your hook."

The helicopter obeyed, drawing nearer the ground and dropping his hook into the shaft-like opening. One by one the civilians were lifted up into the night air. None appeared severely hurt but three people had broken upper limbs and bled from various points on their bodies. The ones who were worse off were lifted via cots into a few of the helicopters and flown away.

Blades' comm. link pinged as his on-board radio recieved a communication on the common frequency.

"Dani?" he asked.

"Answer it, Blades. I'm betting it's from one of the other pilots."

He accepted the frequency.

"_You _–_ American girl?_" a female voice asked in unsteady English over the radio, older than Dani by a number of years. "_We have help coming in few minutes to fill in for us. We will head towards downtown. You want to join us?_"

"Oh! Maybe in a bit. I'll leave once I'm sure they've got things handled here. My brother's going to find out where the epicenter was exactly so we can better distribute our people and bots. This looks like the epicenter but it might not be. He needs to analyze the readings or something to figure that out."

"_Suit yourself. C__he Dio sia con te_."

The dogs led the rescuers to more people in the area. The choppers continued to circle and spirit the wounded away to the nearest hospital. As of yet no one had been found dead. Dani and the other rescuers prayed it would remain that way. The sheer scale of the damage – the town basically flattened – the hope of everyone having survived was slim. It was early as yet though. Only time would tell.

* * *

LOCAL TIME: 10:45

Heatwave and Kade had been roped into service by a large group of firemen the instant they'd gone to explore the city for rescues. They'd been kept busy for the past hour and a half or so. They'd rescued a young girl from beneath a thick pile of rubble who bore a nasty gash on her head but otherwise had seemed unharmed. Her father had taken her in his arms, crying from relief that she was alive. A helicopter had lowered a cot down and she'd been whisked away to a healing center. Another rescue came from a burning building that had managed to somehow semi-survive toppling. The quake had disrupted a gas main beneath a restaurant and a stove left on had ignited it. Everyone had been gotten out but many were injured and/or burned – almost everyone. Two had been found dead. The structure had collapsed on top of them, crushing them.

Now they were off to deal with another plume of smoke about a mile from their present location. But with many of the roads out he was forced to move around in biped form, a decision he had no arguments against. He personally wondered how fire engines got down some of these streets in the first place they were so narrow. Humans had some very strange designs for their roads in some places.

The fire they found was not as severe as the other had been, fire burning another pile of rubble of what had once been a church. Heatwave detected no flammable gases in the air. Something else had ignited this burn. Candles maybe? He didn't hear any voices crying for help. No bio-signs either. Could mean the place was empty, could mean everyone inside was dead (what a hopeful thought) but it'd still be best to put this blaze out to keep it from spreading any further. In his cabin he felt Kade tense up.

"Careful, Kade. Structure looks old and that rubble's bound to be unstable. If there's anyone in there a collapse could kill them if the fire hasn't managed that already." he told him in low tones over the interior radio display screen.

"I know, I know. I got this 'Wave. Watch and learn, old timer."

Heatwave scowled at him. "I mean it. Don't do anything stupid. No showing off. Keep the pressure low. Too much and you'll worsen the structure's condition."

The firemen shouted in Italian to one another, their two engines grinding to a stop. Hoses were drawn out from holding. They were not hooked up to a nearby fire hydrant however, as it was rendered useless by the quake, leaning to one side. They had a contingency in place which Heatwave applauded: they'd packed their engines' tanks full of water. That was a limited resource, as were his own water reserves, but he was happy to know firemen and firewomen followed many of the same methods all around the world.

"Alright. Let's put this thing out, people!" Kade hollered over Heatwave's speakers. "FIRE AWAY!"

Heatwave had to resist the urge to groan at the bad word play. Nonetheless he lifted his wrists up and aimed them at the fire. A high-powered stream of water rushed out in a torrent. The other engines unleashed their own torrents a half second later. There was a loud roar-like hiss almost as if the flames were protesting. Steam mingled with smoke and rose into the night air. In roughly an hour the fire was reduced to a few stubbornly smoldering embers and scorched wood and brick. The firemen dropped their hoses and made a mad dash to the ruins, using hatchets and sledgehammers to hack through and break up obstacles. Kade and Heatwave watched nervously, hoping no dead bodies were brought out. Heatwave was too big to help out here, and too many people might destabilize part of the rubble.

Two firemen emerged.

"Anything?" he asked finally.

They shook their heads. Italian flowed from their tongues. Kade was clueless to their meaning. He heard the mech's engine emit a low rumbling growl.

"Uh...Heatwave?"

"They said they found the person in charge of this religious building. Dead, crushed, and burned. The others are bringing him out for identification. Other than that the building was empty."

Kade cursed. Bad luck. That's all that was. Nothing to be done.

"Come on. Let's go help out some more."

* * *

LOCAL TIME: 12:30 P.M.

Chase was busy heaving aside the walls of an old home. The search dogs employed by some additional officers had zoned in on the building, barking and pawing to alert of the presence of trapped civilians. He was also picking up human bio-signatures – well over three hundred within a half mile radius – on his scanners, a fact which helped to reassure him partially. Bio-signs meant life. Of course, he had no means of searching for dead bodies, and he had no way of knowing how many people in total had been in this particular structure. The state of the area foretold the grim reality that a fraction of the city's population might not have made it out of the disaster alive.

A sobering thought, that. This would be the first rescue he'd assisted on that was out of the United States – and it might also be the first one to have casualties. Not the best way to build an international reputation to be certain.

Out of the rubble a large group of people were carefully lifted out. A glance around showed Salvage and Boulder and an excavator helping to clear the streets of debris. In the seat, Graham was busy analyzing seismic readings, letting Boulder drive himself. He would've told him to maintain the illusion, but then again Chief had not told them to maintain disguise here. Salvage had even come up with the bright idea to use some of the debris (carefully selected and analysed for structural soundness, of course) to fill up the cracks that had opened in the road to permit the easier passage of additional rescue vehicles and personnel as the night wore on. A glance up showed an even larger "flock" of helicopters than had been present an hour ago, scouring the entire city with their lights. Blades was part of the "flock" covering the denser downtown regions, his brighter color scheme rendering him easy to spot in the distance.

The police cruiser jerked his helm up on hearing a strange series of sounds come from the west. From the darkness came two sleek red and white aircraft emblazoned with a familiar A on their sides. Beside it flew a pitch black jet that bore no distinguishing crest. A black grey, and purple aircraft dove down through the clouds like a wailing phantom. A loud noise like the roar of many engines, far too many to belong to the aircraft, thundered in the night air. Out of the gloom a titanic form materialized, looking like a highly dangerous oceanic aircraft carrier – but it flew. Lights blazed through the darkness from its front region and its sides. People on the ground shouted in surprise, almost all of them screaming and hollering and pointing wildly. Oddly, he detected no increase in fear pheromones.

*_Chief Burns?_* he asked over short-band. *_I do not recognize the black jet or the large airship. Are the civilians in danger?_*

"Far from it, partner." The older man was smiling up at the sight. "I asked the Avengers for an assist before we left. I guess they took it a step further and brought some friends of theirs. That jet is the Blackbird; belongs to the X-Men. That big airship you see is the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier. Guess someone called a favor with Hill or Fury."

The dark grey, black, and purple aircraft shot forward in a scream of its engine. Mid-flight it shifted to reveal a titan of the same color with burning red optics. It hit ground with a thundering bang of metal on stone.

"GALV! GALV!"

Blades' form shot in like a rocket, far faster than Chase considered Blades to be willing to go. Alighting on the ground, he transformed and ran over to give the newcomer mech a friendly hug. Galvatron could only manage to look startled at this gesture. His gaze was removed from the hug, analyzing the scene that spread out before him with ruthless efficiency.

"Alright. You gave the former killer warlord a hug." Dani laughed. "You can give him back his ability to move now, Blades. We need to get back to work. There's still a lot to be done."

"Oh! sorry."

He let go.

The two aircraft lowered down and landed in one of the few open spaces in the city limits where it was even remotely safe to do so. The Helicarrier loomed overhead, its many searchlights illuminating far larger swathes of ground than a flock of helicopters ever could. Colorful heroes spilled out of both aircraft. Chase was surprised to note a blue-furred, ape-like individual begin speaking fluent Italian with a rescue worker. Having never seen a so-called "mutant" before this took him by complete surprise. Their hand motions indicated the situation at hand was being explained and perhaps coordination efforts arranged. Once the conversation was over the odd human-ape hybrid re-joined the other heroes and began explaining:

"Anyone with enhanced senses will assist in location efforts. Strength abilities, energy manipulators, and size-changers will assist in rubble removal and extraction. Fliers, some of you will stay here and assist the medical choppers in moving civilians to the Helicarrier's infirmary with our aircraft or by hand. Others will fly out and scout surrounding regions to assess the breadth of the quake's effects. I've been informed a lavender racecar is at present occupied in this very endeavor. Look for it and join with it when you find it. It came with the Burns' rescue squadron."

Heads were nodded. Chase and Chief Burns watched as the heroes split off to assume their rescue roles. Some remained within the city limits, some vanished into the distance to begin their own search. Galvatron went with the latter group of fliers.

Chase shook his helm, still trying to compute what had just happened. Their organization in conjunction with their abilities was nothing short of astonishing. With these numbers their chances of finding civilians rose exponentially. Something began to warm his usually cold, rule-abiding spark. It took him a moment to identify it.

Hope.

It was feeble, it was inconsistent – but it was still hope. And that had to count for something.

* * *

Along a winding mountain road a racecar moved along, forced to move slowly to avoid sections of road that had been damaged. Graham had just uploaded a map of where the epicenter (which, sadly, _was _Amatrice) was along with some calculations courtesy of Boulder showing how far the quake might have reached. He had overlapped it with a general map of the region. The closest town affected was Accumoli apparently. So he was headed there. Strada Statale Four was basically a straight shot there.

He wound around a curve in the road. Blurr began to hear a noise coming in from southeast of him. Sounded like a Cybertronian engine. Coming wicked fast, too. He transformed and looked around. Racing towards him, engine screaming like a banshee, was color scheme he recognized thanks to reports on the War Optimus's team had provided to his own. He snarled, assumed a fighting stance. The aircraft transformed and revealed a grim, tall personage with tell-tale red optics. He didn't see any 'Con crest though – just a weird glowing starburst thing on his chest and an "X" and an "A" on his shoulders. Funny, Megatron didn't look interested in harming him. OP had told them the War was over. This friendly personality displayed could be a ruse all the same, lulling him into a false sense of security.

"You wanna go, bucket-head?! Let's go! I got other places to be but I'll gladly give you some dents to remember me by!"

Blurr charged and tried to swing a vicious punch. Megatron's weapons were never produced. The taller mech simply grabbed the hand meant to hit him and lifted the smaller minibot up into the air as if he weighed nothing. Blurr tried to kick, actually managing to land one on his torso. Megatron didn't even flinch.

"Fighting me is an asinine decision, boy. I suggest you not make a third attempt." Megatron said coldly. "I and the other aerial scouts are under orders to assist you in assessing damages in the surrounding region, aiding in rescue efforts if needed. Judging by Graham's calculations that is a very real possibility. The largest seismic waves affected Amatrice, but those same waves no doubt spread out further afield. Other habitations will have been damaged as well."

"Oh, yeah?! How do I know you're not lying? You could've intercepted those communications and –"

'_He is not lying._'

Blurr looked around wildly in search of the new voice. It sounded like it came from everywhere at once. Sorta echo-y, too.

"Who was that?" he demanded. "That wasn't on my comm. link!"

"A friend of mine." Megatron told him simply. "I would advise you listen to him. I am not here to harm, boy. I am here to assist."

"GALV! PUT. THE KID. DOWN!"

Both mechs jerked their helms up to see a young man with white wings and a woman in a black and red suit and red scarf. The voice print had been female, and her expression was stern. The woman had done the shouting.

Blurr felt himself released abruptly but not roughly. He blinked. The dreaded leader of the Decepticons was working with costumed humans now? What the heck? When had this been a thing? Neither the Burns family nor the other Rescue Bots had told him about this! Wait...That nickname though...Heatwave _had _mentioned they were in contact with another Cybertronian named Galvatron who worked on the mainland. He didn't visit often but he was a friend. Why hadn't he mentioned Galvatron and Megatron were one and the same?

"The others?" the great grey mech demanded.

"Coming. Jean got a bit of an aggression blip from Blurr, told us about it, and we came to make sure everything was okay." Ms. Marvel explained quickly. "You two are gonna play nice now, right?"

"I guess..." Blurr mumbled. He gave a surly glance at the other mech.

"You'd best." Galvatron reminded him. "In-fighting will not save innocent lives."

Parthian shot accomplished, Galvatron transformed and screamed off to the north. Ms. Marvel and Angel flew after him.

"Hey! Wait up!"

* * *

When the sun rose over Amatrice and surrounding regions the rescuers in all their variety were still hard at work, but the rescues were becoming more and more sparse. Thousands of individuals had been found and removed for treatment to various healing institutions, though some remote regions remained unaided. Spreading too thin was the same as not sending anyone at all, and with Helicarrier parked over Amatrice its country of origin relied on ground and air agents to keep the peace. Only about one twenty people had been found dead from the earthquake in Amatrice, and thirty in other areas – a number that was far lower than Italian police and rescue workers had believed possible. It was sobering that people had met their ends. But everyone involved argued it could've been far worse if not for the prompt response time of rescuers.

The city itself was another story. Almost none of the village's buildings had survived the titanic temblor. Over two thousand people were now homeless, their dwellings and businesses flattened, most if not all of their belongings crushed beyond recognition. There was hope for them, though. Stark Industries and S.H.I.E.L.D both pitched in funding for re-location or reconstruction. There was even talk of getting together a charity concert and setting up a massive crowd-funding project to send aid to the homeless and affected. Wasp, Jean, Kitty, and Rogue and many Italian teens and children were all for the former. The popular, native names of Laura Pausini and Tizziano Ferro were considered. It was eventually decided among rescuers and the rescued that both might be done.

The Helicarrier disappeared along with many of the heroes, but the Rescue Bots and the Burns family remained behind to continue providing aid. They were joined later in the day by S.H.I.E.L.D agents in jets and all-terrain vehicles who would continue the work of the heroes and their own organization until they were no longer needed. Red Cross workers joined them.

A disaster, while not averted, had at least been managed. Lives had been lost, but countless more had been saved.

Far beneath the ground, an ancient force chuckled darkly, feeling a mote of its power trickle back...

* * *

**Author's Note: I intend this as a tribute to the earthquake victims. It's not a perfect ending by any means, but it is a somewhat happier one. **


End file.
